Syracuse, NY - A Tully woman tearfully apologized in court today for causing the death of a friend in an alcohol-related crash on Interstate 81 last year.

She then was greeted by hugs from the relatives of the victim as she left court moments later.

"I am so sorry for any heartache I caused anyone. I just pray for your forgiveness," Katharine Webb told the relatives of Jerry S. Brown Jr. as she stood before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti for sentencing.

Brunetti then sentenced Webb to five years' probation and 300 hours of community service as agreed to in a plea deal.

Webb, 22, of 443 Otisco Road, pleaded guilty May 23 to a felony charge of criminally negligent homicide in the November crash.

She originally was charged with a more serious count of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, accused of causing Brown's death while driving drunk.

But Senior Assistant District Attorney Chris Bednarski said the prosecution would have had difficulty proving Webb was legally intoxicated at the time of the crash. Witnesses said she gave no indication of being intoxicated before the crash and her blood-alcohol count was 0.08, right at the limit for being charged with drunken driving, the prosecutor said.

Ellen M. Blalock / The Post-StandardKatharine Webb received five years' probation and 300 hours of community service in the fatal crash that killed Jerry S. Brown Jr. She wipes tears as her attorney, Randi Bianco looks on.

While Webb did not plead guilty to an alcohol-related charge, Bednarski said alcohol played a factor in the crash. Road and weather conditions were clear and dry at the time, he said.

According to authorities, Webb was coming from a party in Tully and heading to a bonfire when the SUV she was driving struck a guardrail and overturned on I-81 in Tully about 2:15 a.m. Nov. 5.

Brown, 29, of 57 Warren St., Tully, was ejected.

In court, Bednarski gave Webb credit for accepting responsibility and for showing remorse over Brown's death. But he said her remorse could not change that he was killed and his young son was left without a father.

Webb began openly crying as Bednarski said he hoped that as she marked key points in her life that she would remember Brown is not alive to mark the same kind of moments.

Brunetti agreed to the plea deal after being told Brown's family was satisfied with the no-jail resolution.

Members of Brown's family - identified by the prosecutor as Brown's father and step-mother, grandmother and the mother of his son - all were present but opted not to address the judge.

But Webb warmly hugged the relatives as she left court with defense lawyer Randi Bianco.

Bednarski said he'd never seen the family of a fatal crash victim react so warmly to a defendant leaving court at a sentencing. But he also said he specifically made the comments that appeared to prompt Webb's tears in court.

He said he wanted her to remember for the rest of her life that she is able to enjoy life and its many gifts while Brown "is not enjoying anything."